Paseo in Michigan

It's been over a year since I've been in the USA, and I've been missing it. Little nieces have been growing up and developing personalities. I have a 5 month old nephew, Arie, that I haven't met! Friends and family have gotten new jobs, moved houses, and had other major life events. It's about time I went back to visit.

As a benefit of extending for a third year here in Panama, Peace Corps gives me a free trip and month of leave to go back to my "home of record". I'll be taking that vacation in and around Michigan December 1 - January 5. I'm hoping to visit and catch up with as many people as I can. So let me know if you're going to be in the area around Chicago, Kalamazoo, or Grand Rapids as I plan to travel around and visit family and friends.

I'm a little worried about my lack of tolerance for cold weather these days, as I imagine it will be just way too cold. I occasionally wear a fleece sweatshirt in the morning in San Felix, but I can't imagine the temperature drops below 75 degrees fahrenheit. It will be exciting to finally see some snow, and of course celebrate a white Christmas and New Years.

Home for Christmas, it's gonna be just like old times.

Just as a warning I might be acting a little weird - using Spanglish, looking for outdoor bathrooms, being very dramatic about the cold, craving rice and plantains, greeting strangers with a loud "Buenas!", using Panamanian hand gestures, or being overwhelmed by Christmas in general. But hey, I'll just be sharing cultures while doing my best not to embarrass family and friends too much.

This will an exciting trip and I'm really grateful to be able to spend a good amount of time visiting. It's always better to share stories and experiences in person, so I'm looking forward to that. But most of all I'll just be happy to spend time with everyone who's been supporting me from afar. It's coming up quick!

Making Myself at Home

A few days ago I was walking through a grocery store in Panama City and an Afro-Panamanian came up to me and said in English, "Are you from the Darién?" There are actually a decent amount of English speakers in the city, with a wide range of fluency levels. Even so it almost always takes me off guard. Then I realized I was wearing my Darién baseball jersey. I told him I had lived in the Comarca Emberá-Wounaan for a couple years, but now live in Chiriquí (a western province of Panama). He spoke in broken English and I responded slowly and clearly as he explained he was from La Palma, the capital of Darién. I told him, "Me puede hablar en español si quiere." Then we switched to spanish and the conversation was much easier. It still feels a bit strange to tell people that I live in Chiriquí, because I still identify more with the Darién. Not to mention telling people you live deep in the jungle near the Colombian border generates more of a reaction. But even though sometimes I have to think about it first, I now refer to Chiriquí as home. And it will be for a while yet.

San Felix, situated just off the Pan American highway

It's been quite some time since I've given an update here, and not surprisingly things have changed. I have officially extended for a third year here in Panama as the Water Systems Coordinator. That means I will be here until August of 2015. I'll be in the same location, the friendly Latino/Ngabe town of San Felix (it's located close to the indigenous reservation of the Ngabe people). Since there is a good amount going on with water projects in Panama, I've been kept pretty busy giving Volunteer support. In Peace Corps life they say that the first few months seem to drag by, the first year goes fast, and the second year flies by before you know it. I'd say that held true for me for the most part, so I can imagine what the third year will be like.

When I arrived in San Felix it felt like a really big town, which relatively it is. But after spending some months there it's starting to become more familiar as I get to know people and places. Gustavo works behind the meat counter at the nearest store, and I hired him to build a bike for me with a bunch of parts that I managed to find or buy. The first time I took it out for a spin, a bolt came loose and one of the pedals fell off. When Gustavo found out he felt so bad that he immediately came over to my house and started helping me fix it, giving me parts from his house. When I offered to pay him for the parts he told me,  "My work is guaranteed, don't worry about it!" Pincho, the landlady's 70-something year old brother, likes to come over most days to chat or get my opinion on a newspaper article he just read. Heidi, who has a tiny restaurant just down the road, has offered spinach and hot peppers growing in her yard. Edilma, aka "The Duro Lady", makes the best duros (plastic bags of frozen fruit juice) that I've ever had for 25 cents each. A different Gustavo, a taxi driver with a truck that looks like it's barely held together by wire and duct tape, loves to give rides to gringos and offers the best prices.

My house, with my bike parked outside

The house gets a lot of visitors passing through.

There is an unusually large number of Volunteers living in San Felix. I'm sharing the rental house with Amber, who is the Sanitation Coordinator for the Environmental Health program. Since it's a central location, it made sense for us to be based there to be able to travel out to Volunteer sites all over the country. The regional leader of the Comarca Ngabe-Buglé, Seneca, also lives just down the road. A Peace Corps Response Volunteer, Lucas, lives in town and travels to work in different communities. On top of that Rachel, another East sider refugee removed from site for security reasons, just moved in to finish her service there. That makes five of us. In addition to that many Volunteers regularly pass through on trips out of their communities to buy food and other supplies, check the internet, or just to take a break from living in a hut without running water or electricity. So we get a good amount of visitors.

The biggest store in town with a variety of food not found in the campo

The entrance to Las Lajas, home of a beautiful beach

When I tell people about San Felix they usually haven't heard of it, but they recognize the neighboring town of Las Lajas, which is known for its attractive beach on the Pacific. The beach is about a half hour bike ride (or a short taxi trip) from my house, and it's normally deserted. It's actually one of the nicest beaches I've been to in Panama. This is a popular place for Volunteers to get together and go for a swim and spend a night in the cabañas right on the beach.

Playa Las Lajas: a nice place to take a break, just down the road from my house

Meeting the Peace Corps Director (4th from left)

Being a third volunteer has its perks. Amber and I were asked by the Peace Corps office to represent the EH program and go to a dinner with other Volunteers to meet the global Director of the Peace Corps, Carrie Hessler-Radelet. It was part of a conference with country directors from all over the region who came to see our operations in Panama. The Director listened to our perspectives on being a Volunteer in Panama and she told us stories about Peace Corps on a global level. It was exciting to meet her and she was very friendly and easy to talk to.


So as you can see I'm getting more settled into the place, even though much of my time is spent traveling to other places. I'm having a blast meeting new people, seeing new places, learning new skills, and doing what I can to have an impact on the efforts toward better water, sanitation, and hygiene for rural Panamanians.

La Despedida

After leaving my community in the Darien, it took some time to adjust to life on the other side of the country. A few months ago I went back to Nuevo Vigía for a despedida (goodbye party) to spend one last day there and say goodbye to everyone. I didn’t write much about it because the whole experience was pretty overwhelming, and I had other things to worry about, such as figuring out a new job while trying to move on mentally. But I wanted to try and at least share a little bit about what that day was like.

Preparing the meal for 100+ people

The day of my despedida was Saturday, May 17 and so I made the 13 hour trek out to the Darien to get ready. In Metetí I bought 60 pounds of chicken for the party along with about 20 pounds of vegetables and a piñata full of candy. Florentino and I loaded it all into a canoe and went upriver to Vigía. That morning Fulgencio and I walked around in the rain inviting people to the gathering and found volunteers to cook for the meal. The school donated 50 pounds of rice for the occasion.  

A big group of people showed up at the common house to prepare arroz con pollo, which is the typical Panamanian party food – basically rice cooked together with chopped chicken, veggies, and orange coloring. The food filled up three huge pots. As soon as word spread that there was a piñata (which took about 30 seconds) masses of children showed up from every direction. While the food was cooking I had a projector borrowed from the school set up to play a movie I had made of photos and video clips around town during my time there. They loved seeing themselves on the screen and I was asked to play it over again about five times. I had just as much fun watching their faces as they did watching the movie. 

Yasmilet and Estela helping cook arroz con pollo

Watching a movie about my experiences in Nuevo Vigía

  


                                     This is the video I showed to everyone.


Before we ate I stood in front of everyone and said a little speech that I had written out beforehand. I figured reading it would be easier since I’d be less emotional. The speech was a mix of Spanish and Emberá, but I tried to translate it as best I could here:

Thank you for letting me share my last day with you here in Vigía. I would like to say a few words as a goodbye to everyone. Two years ago I came here as a stranger, an outsider in a town I had never seen before. Now I’m leaving as a member of the community, the Emberá Torro (White Guy) with lots of friends. You all made me feel like part of the family. We spent two years together talking, laughing, sweating, and eating, and made a great friendship. When outsiders would ask me what the people of Vigía are like, I would say that they are really good people, very friendly, they treat me well, they help me with anything, and welcome me into their homes and lives. 

I believe that working together is one of the best ways to get to know people and make friends. What we did with the water committee was a great job. They are a group of very hard working people and they learned so much about the water system and community health. I’m really proud of what this group and the water technicians have achieved. Especially Fulgencio, who participated in the leadership seminar with me in Coclé and has grown as a leader. Also Alberto who took the responsibility of supporting and animating the group. Enilda, even though she always has so many obligations with the family and at the school, was always available to work. Rubén learned to use all the technology of the system and even went to Lajas Blancas to give technical training to the water committee there. It makes me happy to see your desire to work voluntarily to improve the community. 

The time I spent in Vigía was full of good experiences. I have many memories: visiting in your houses; the food you gifted me – venison, paca meat, wild boar, iguana, plantains, fish, everything; learning Emberá from my mom, Estela; playing basketball to win that soda; working in the fields; running with the dogs chasing deer with Ubaldino and Fidel; planting rice with Fulgencio; catching shrimp in the river; talking about the Bible with Leonurcio; cutting palm leaves with Tonio; building my house with Linito and Lilio; playing with the kids in the river; carrying blocks and cement from Peñita with Sindulfo and Rubén; practicing Frisbee with the young ones; drinking borojo juice at Pacifico’s; and so many more. I’m going to bring the stories of all these memories with me wherever I go. I’m very thankful for everything you’ve done for me and I will miss you very much. Thank you all for your generosity, care, and friendship. I carry you in my heart and I will never forget you.

Setting up the piñata for the kids

After that a few others stood up to say some words including one of the teachers, Rubén, and Alberto. When the arroz con pollo was ready everyone ran to get their bowls and spoons from home and lined up in front of the pots. The piñata was strung up and kids took turns swinging at it until the explosion of candy sent them all diving for the floor to collect it.

Later I was talking with Joel and he gave me his basketball jersey with “Club Emberá” printed on it as a gift, which I was really happy with. So I put it on and went to the basketball court to play some pickup with a group of kids and women who showed up. They yelled at me to go easy on them and stop dunking the ball (hey I was just playing). After jumping in the river I went to Linito’s house to say goodbye and give him a nice hunting knife I bought in Panama City as a thank you for all his help over the years. He was always there for me, from bringing me to Vigía for the first time when I was in training, to supporting my first community meetings, to helping building my house, to teaching me Emberá better than anyone else. He made my time there so much better and I just wish I could’ve repaid him somehow.

The entire day I had kept my composure without getting too overwhelmed with the fact that I was leaving. Then later in the afternoon I made one last visit to my house to grab a few things I had left behind. As I walked up the dirt path and saw my house it suddenly sank in that this was the last time I would see this place. A place where I had spent all this time, learned so many things, overcome all these challenges, made so many friends, and had countless memories that will stay with me forever. I brushed away tears from my face as I climbed my ladder for the last time. The empty house had sort of a cold feeling as it was no longer a place of comfort and security. The feeling was one of homelessness, of not belonging anymore. I grabbed a bag of Frisbees and the solar lights to give to Enilda.

Before heading down to Fulgencio’s to gather my things, I needed to pasear with the hill people one more time. While walking past the tienda I saw Mauricio and said goodbye to him. His handicapped son was taking a bath in a wheelbarrow full of rainwater with the help of his older sister. I went over to see him, and as always as soon as he saw me he smiled his big crooked smile and started laughing. That made his sister laugh too as she splashed water on him, and despite the circumstances I couldn’t help laughing too. I stopped by Filadelfia’s house, and she told me to have faith in Jesus and that God willing we would see each other in heaven some day. The thought made me feel a peace inside. José invited me into his house and I said my farewells to him and his family. And so I walked back down the hill for the last time.

When people talk about living in a foreign country there is a lot said about culture shock upon entry and how difficult it is to adjust to a different culture, climate, language, food, and way of living. But not much is said about how hard it is to leave once you have adjusted. In my experience leaving was much harder than adjusting to life there ever was (which was not easy either). At the time all of this was very hard to accept and process. Now that I’ve had time to reflect and move on, I can see how this was all part of God’s plan, and see the good that came out of this. I continue learning that to trust in God includes trusting in the difficult, confusing times when I feel like His ways are not making sense.

Los trabajadores: Rubén, Enilda, Alberto, and Fulgencio

I was really grateful to at least be able to go back and take the time to say goodbye to people I had invested so much into. While it definitely didn’t make up for the three months I lost in Vigía or heal the pain of having it all taken away, it helped me feel a little more peace about the situation. I will never forget the part of my life that was experienced in Nuevo Vigía and I thank God for all the love and joy I received there.

New Address

So I moved to a new place. A while ago. And forgot to give an update on my address.

Well here it is! I now live in a town called San Felix and it has it's own post office just down the road from my house (very convenient).

Benjamin Vander Plas

Cuerpo de Paz

Entrega General

San Felix, Chiriquí - 0444

Republica de Panamá

Switching Cultures

It's amazing that in as small a country as Panama there is so much diversity in people, culture, language, and terrain. Since moving to the other side of the country I've been adjusting to everything that's different from where I used to live in the Darien. As a coordinator for water projects I work with a lot of volunteers by giving technical support and visiting their communities. Most of them are in the Comarca Ngabe Buglé, the largest indigenous region in the country, located mainly in the highlands of western Panama. Even though I live in a mostly Latino town, I've been spending much of my time traveling to Ngabe communities. So basically I've switched from hanging out with Emberá people in the jungle to Ngabe people in the mountains. As a result there are some things I need to get used to.

Some Differences:

Emberá: Why walk when
you can ride in a canoe?

1) Emberá do not walk long distances, they take boats. Ngabes walk for miles just to visit a neighbor (not even kidding). Also the Darien is FLAT. In the land of Ngabes what they call a little hill is a MOUNTAIN.

Ngabes: Short walk up a small hill (aka hiking a mountain)

Emberá: Laundry in the river, with advanced technology

2) Emberá bathe almost constantly in the river, they are in the water a large part of the day. Ngabes do not live by rivers, they walk to small springs and scoop water on their heads from a puddle.










3) Emberá are loud and in your face, and very talkative with strangers. Ngabes are really good at staring at strangers without making a sound or changing facial expression. When communicating with Ngabes I have to fight the urge to speak Emberá out of habit. I'm starting to learn a little more of the Ngabere language now though.

Emberá: "Hello stranger, let me tell you a story"

Emberá: Again, meal time is their favorite time

4) Emberá eat. A lot. Ngabes eat white rice, sometimes accompanied by a chicken foot.

Emberá: They love to eat

5) Emberá wear very little clothing. Ngabe men generally don't leave the house without a shirt and pants, women wear long dresses with sleeves.

Embera: Always keep it casual

Ngabes: Women in traditional dress

Ngabes: Houses with natural flooring

6) Emberá houses are raised 8-12 feet off the ground. Ngabe houses stay at ground level.

Emberá: Houses are up high

Okay these are heavily exaggerated generalizations and not meant to criticize or stereotype, but just a few things I noticed to be a contrast in general.

So anyway I've been pretty busy with this new job doing a good amount of travelling. Here's a photo summary of some work activities up to date:

Water committee seminar in Cerro Ortiga

Restoration of a spring capture in Cerro Ceniza

Helping Nate build a biosand filter in Las Trancas

Helping build a ferrocement rainwater storage tank in Las Trancas

Repairing a water tank in Quebrada Mina

New Opportunity

The decision of the Peace Corps to pull me from my community came with an offer of a new opportunity. Last week I decided to take a position as the Water Systems Coordinator of Peace Corps Panama. I will be giving technical support for volunteer water projects, assisting communities in the management and maintenance of water systems, and training new volunteers. Basically I will be traveling around a large area of the country and visiting a number of different communities.

This coordinator position is brand new which means I will be shaping the role for the volunteer taking the job after me. It’s a great opportunity to use my experience to have a wider spread impact within the Environmental Health program here in Panama. This also gives me a chance to see more areas of the country and work more with other volunteers on a variety of water projects.

Since I had so little time left, I will be extending my service until mid October, a few months longer than I was originally going to be in Panama. Tomorrow I will be moving to a town in the province of Chiriquí, on the west side of the country. This will be my home base to travel out to other project sites. It will be a much different experience compared to my previous living situation. I’ll have running water, electricity, and accessible roads, which will make my life much easier.

I knew I wasn’t ready to leave Panama after everything that happened. I’m glad to have this opportunity to continue the work that I had been doing in Nuevo Vigía, now on a larger scale and in a leadership position. This will definitely be another unique adventure to add to all the stories of life in Panama.

Happy Easter!

Unexpected Goodbye

Sometimes life changes fast. In just a few weeks I went from enjoying life in Nuevo Vigía, to losing my home and my community entirely and unexpectedly. Trying to process and reconcile that has been a huge challenge. Let me explain…

On March 19 I was sitting on my porch reading a book when Enilda, my neighbor, came and told me she heard about a confrontation involving police and drug traffickers the day before. Since I hadn’t heard anything about it, I called the Peace Corps office to notify them. Drug trafficking is common in the area, as many people cross the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama by foot through dense jungle, carrying backpacks. There are many border patrol stations in the region to prevent this. It turned out that the incident happened within the region of the Comarca where six of us volunteers were living in communities within a half day’s walk of each other. The next day we left our sites to go to a conference in Panama City. While in the city we met with the office to discuss what had happened. The safety and security staff decided to do an investigation to make sure that the area was safe for us to return.

Peace Corps took about a week to meet with members of our communities, the police, and the US Embassy to discuss the security situation in the Comarca. Since it was an isolated incident, we expected to be cleared and sent back to our sites soon after. I was anxious to go back since it had been so long and I missed my gente.

On April 7 the six of us met with the Peace Corps Country Director. He explained what they had been doing to gather more information on the security situation. Then he told us something I was not at all prepared to hear: our entire region would be closed, evacuated, and declared a restricted area. We would not be going back to our communities. It was a punch in the stomach. I’m not sure what else was said in the meeting because my head was spinning. It felt like a bad dream but I couldn’t wake myself up. All my plans were shattered in that moment of realization that my time in Nuevo Vigía was suddenly over.

I knew I would eventually have to leave the life I had made there, but I didn’t expect it to be like this. I was going to use the next three months to mentally and emotionally prepare myself to leave, not to mention finish all the projects I had been working on and try to somehow say goodbye to everyone that I had grown so close to. To have it happen without notice is like falling through ice into freezing water. It’s shocking and disorienting. Thinking about how much I lost by not being able to go back and finish my time is painful. I will never again be able to experience what has become normal everyday life: cooking plantains in my hut, relaxing in my hammock overlooking the jungle, sitting on the floor in people’s houses and talking for hours, going fishing with my neighbors, playing with kids in the river, hiking out to fincas with a machete to collect plantains, sharing a meal after a successful day of hunting, or laughing as we try to speak each other’s languages. I am forced to appreciate all of these things so much more, because now they are gone.

I'm going to miss the Tuqueza River, bien tranquilo

Just a few days after finding out we were being pulled from the region, we had to make a final trip to our communities to have a meeting to officially close the site and collect all or our belongings. Due to transportation logistics I only had a matter of hours to do all of this - handing off unfinished projects, emptying my entire house, and telling people the bad news. The community meeting was one of the most difficult moments I’ve had in my two years in Panama. A member of Peace Corps staff came and explained to people what was happening and why I had to leave. When my turn came to speak I could feel my emotions welling up, and I could barely get the words out. I told them how in the past two years I had gone from being an outsider to feeling like part of a big family. I told them how grateful I was for how they had welcomed me into their home, taught me so much, and shared everything they had with me. Several people took turns speaking as well. They talked about how they appreciated the work I had done, enjoyed having me in the community, and were disappointed that I was leaving. Rubén, aka Super Técnico, also stood up to speak. Out of everyone that I’ve worked with in Nuevo Vigía, Rubén is the one I am most proud of. He spoke of how he had learned so much and had become more confident in his abilities because of me. I couldn’t look at him without crying, so I stared at the floor while he talked. I wanted to tell him how proud of him I was and how rewarding it was to work with him, but there was no time and I couldn’t keep it together anyway.

I'm really proud of how far Rubén has come in two years

Part of me really wanted them to get angry at Peace Corps and fight to keep me there. I was a little disappointed that they remained silent after hearing the news. I realized though that they couldn’t deny that there were risks involved with living in the area. Fulgencio, our water committee president, asked us if there was anything that the United States could do to help make their community a safer place. It broke my heart to hear the desperation in his voice. I can’t describe how terrible a feeling it is that they are in this situation, but instead of helping I am leaving them behind. How can I tell them that their home is not a safe enough place for me to live? They have no other option, no control of their circumstances.

I was not ready to leave Nuevo Vigía, but asi es la vida

Removing Peace Corps from these six communities is a huge loss for us as volunteers and also for the Emberá people. Even though I think the decision was the right one, it is still very hard to accept. These were all great communities that provided amazing opportunities to share cultures and knowledge. Although it’s really disappointing that the whole area had to be evacuated, I’m thankful that I didn’t have to go through this alone. I’ve been able to support and be supported by Andrew, Amber, Danielle, Shaun, and Justin through this whole process. Even as I’m getting ready to move on to the next step, I am having a hard time parting with my Emberá family. Fortunately I will be able to visit Nuevo Vigía one last time to have a despedida in May. This will hopefully help me to get better closure with everyone there.

Ultimate Frisbee Camp

A couple weeks ago I helped out with an ultimate frisbee summer camp that was put on by Peace Corps volunteers. It was a week long youth camp teaching kids about leadership and decision making through the sport of ultimate frisbee. Kids came from all over Panama, selected by the volunteer in their community. I brought two of my own, Ramiro and Heidi, who have been part of my local frisbee team in Vigía. It was really interesting to see all these 9-15 year olds interact with each other coming from different provinces, cultures, languages, and economic status. 

I brought Heidi and Ramiro to the camp from my community

Ramiro enjoyed the fancy hotel room

Since the camp was on the other side of the country from my community, the trip to get there was an adventure in itself. Several of us volunteers travelled together with all of the kids we were bringing from the Darien. Two days by bus with a 12 children is quite the journey. We called them our pollitos, or little chickens, because it was quite a sight to see them all following in a row through bus terminals and city streets. I felt like a strict parent sometimes trying to keep them in line. The stay in the hotel on the way was mind blowing for some of the kids who came from rural areas. Hot water showers, flush toilets, air conditioning, and TV are not things they often experience. I had to show some of them how to bathe indoors with running water and to flush the toilet. Fortunately we made all the way it without losing any little chickens.

Team Yellow: Golden Wolves (that's me with my face covered)

Throughout the week the kids learned how to through a frisbee and play the game, but also how to be a leader in their community and make wise choices. Using games and activities kept them engaged, and we even tired them out sometimes. It was great working with volunteers who had a lot of energy to motivate everyone and keep them excited. I've really enjoyed working with youth and seeing how much they can learn when you just take the time and give them attention. I felt exhausted after the camp, but it was definitely worth it.

Giving a talk on self-esteem

Everybody had a great time at Ultimate Frisbee Camp!

Building People

About a month ago I had to make a difficult decision. I had been working on preparing a community project to expand the water system in Nuevo Vigía. That consisted of designing pipeline networks, writing reports, filling out mountains of grant paperwork, making materials lists and budgets, on top of coordinating everything with community members. Since my time here is limited, there was a January deadline for submitting grant requests for project funding. While I was struggling to get everything done in time, I realized how much I was trying to rush things. In the process I was sort of leaving behind the water committee, the people who should be taking charge of the project. I’ve worked so hard to develop this group of ten people, helping them organize, raise funds, budget, set rules, and operate and maintain the system. That’s why it was so tough to accept that they just still weren’t ready for a project of this size, even if I was. The engineer in me was fighting the development worker with grand ideas of heading a big construction project. But in the end I knew that my desire to have something tangible to show for my time here was disrupting the timing for the community. They just need more time and experience taking care of things on their own. As if to accentuate that point, our pump stopped working, and we haven’t had running water for over a month now. We’re still working on that…

Mornings at the river in Nuevo Vigia

So I decided to postpone the project, accepting that I won’t be the one to finish it. There will be another volunteer coming to replace me after I leave. And while it’s hard to leave the work I’ve done to somebody I won’t even meet, I know it’s for the best. That volunteer will be able to build off the groundwork already in place.

I still feel great about of how far the water committee has come. I act like they’re my students. A couple weeks ago I decided to show off one of my students, a water operator that I trained in all the operation and maintenance of the pump and water treatment plant. Danielle, another volunteer in a community with the same water system that was just getting started, asked for help with a seminar to train her water committee. I brought Rubén (who I call Super Técnico) to this neighboring community to help with the seminar. I was proud to see this guy, who a year ago didn’t even know how to turn the pump on, teaching people in another community how to run the entire system. Super Técnico did a great job explaining all the technical processes of the water treatment and troubleshooting advice. The fact that he did a lot of it in Emberá was very helpful.

My student, Super Tecnico, teaching members of the water committee in a neighboring community

The whole time I’ve been here I’ve wanted to build something. Before I arrived in this community I assumed that’s what I would be doing. But I’ve learned so much about what people really need here, and I realize my job isn’t just working with a hammer and nail, but with people. Being the first volunteer in a community can be frustrating because people aren’t used to working with an organization like Peace Corps. Being here first, my job is to gain trust, develop a relationship, and give people the confidence they need to advance themselves. That doesn’t happen overnight. Funny how before I thought two years was such a long time, and now it seems too short. My time here is running out, which is scary. As strange as it is, this place is home. It’s very uncomfortable thinking about leaving. For now I still have plenty of work to do, and I don’t think I’ll ever be bored. For these next five months I want to enjoy this time with my gente.

This is Where I Live

So I made this video a long time ago, and now finally had time to upload it. This is basically a montage of moments I've had in and around my community over the past year and a half. Obviously it doesn't show most of what I've been doing, but it gives an idea of what life looks like around here.

Video: Tour of Nuevo Vigia